TOP GEAR PRESENTER Jeremy Clarkson has denied accusations that he used a racist slur during an unseen episode of the hit motoring show.
In the footage published by the Daily Mirror, Clarkson is seen trying to decide between two cars using a children’s counting rhyme, “Eeny meeny, miny, moe, catch a n***** by his toe,” in a muffled voice. The clip was later edited out of the third episode of the show’s 19th series.
However, the presenter immediately took to Twitter to deny the newspaper’s claims.
The paper claim to have hired audio forensic experts to analyse the clip and confirm the use of the word. The incident occurred during a segment which saw Clarkson test driving a Toyota GT86 and Subaru BRZ, later saying:
Both cost the same, they have the same bodies and the same interiors with the same equipment. They’re even built by the same people in the same factory. You might imagine then that it’s quite hard to chose between them, but actually, it isn’t.
He eventually chose the Toyota using the children’s rhyme.
The BBC told The Guardian that “We’ve seen the story. The Mirror didn’t approach us before publication. Clearly we will establish the facts before commenting.”
It comes after the presenter came under fire for using the term ‘slope’ while filming the show in Thailand, forcing Top Gear executive producer Andy Wilman to apologise.
When we used the word ‘slope’ in the recent Top Gear Burma Special it was a light-hearted word-play joke referencing both the build quality of the bridge and the local Asian man who was crossing it. We were not aware at the time, and it has subsequently been brought to our attention, that the word ‘slope’ is considered by some to be offensive.
